International


Myanmar: Myanmar to Allow Private Plantations to Export Timber

Jun 13, 2019 | Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times

The government will allow trees grown in plantations owned by the private sector and state-owned companies to be harvested for their timber and exported. Myanmar…


Europe: The EU Is Creating a Sustainability Label for Raw Materials

Jun 13, 2019 | Laura Cole, EURACTIV

An EU research group is creating a certification method for raw materials, to be completed by 2021. The project is part of a push to…


Iran: Tankers Are Attacked in Mideast, and US Says Video Shows Iran Was Involved

Jun 13, 2019 | David D. Kirkpatrick, Richard Perez-Pena, and Stanley Reed, New York Times

Explosions crippled two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday in what the United States called “unprovoked attacks” by Iran, raising alarms about…


Libya: NOC Expresses Concern over Military Presence inside Ras Lanuf Terminal

Jun 13, 2019 | National Oil Corporation

National Oil Corporation (NOC) expresses concern over an increased military presence at the Ras Lanuf oil terminal, potentially making it a military objective. These actions…


Syria: Beyond the Debris – The Environment Is a Major Victim of the Syrian Conflict

Jun 13, 2019 | Hanne-Mari Tarvonen, Crisis & Environment

The most significant environmental consequences of the conflict in Syria have been caused by makeshift oil refineries, destroyed infrastructure and debris, collapsed waste collection system…


Climate Change: Not All Military Bases Plan for Warming — GAO

Jun 13, 2019 | Mark K. Matthews, E&E News

The Defense Department may be aware of the risks of climate change, but it still needs to do a better job of preparing its facilities…


Cimate Change: How Much Does Climate Change Affect the Risk of Armed Conflict

Jun 12, 2019 | Stanford University, Science Daily

Intensifying climate change will increase the future risk of violent armed conflict within countries, according to a new study. Synthesizing views across experts, the study…


DRC: DRC Landscape Restoration Is Electrifying!

Jun 12, 2019 | Ahtziri Gonzalez, Forests News

For the 45 million people living in rural Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) there are few livelihood opportunities beyond the exploitation of forest resources.…


South Sudan: South Sudanese President Appoints New Oil Minister

Jun 12, 2019 | Denis Dumo, Reuters

The South Sudanese president has appointed a new petroleum minister, removing Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, the presidential spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday, but the reasons for…


DRC: Commentators Differ on Impacts of DRC's Revised Mining Code

Jun 12, 2019 | Simone Liedtke, Creamer Media's Mining Weekly

Ivanhoe Mines Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) operations MD Louis Watum says the country’s new Mining Code has created uncertainty regarding the regulatory framework within the country,…


Liberia: Solidaridad to Launch New Programs to Benefit over 42,000 Cocoa, Oil Palm Farmers in Liberia

Jun 12, 2019 | Lennart Dodoo, FrontPage Africa

Solidaridad in Liberia will on Friday, June 14, 2019 launch two major programs to boost the sustainable production of cocoa and oil palm in the…


Myanmar: Gov't Lifts Ban on Plantation Teak Exports

Jun 11, 2019 | Htun Htun, Irrawaddy

The Myanmar government will again allow the exportation of raw teak and timber from state and privately-owned plantations, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation…


Viet Nam: Growing Vegetables against All Odds on Spratly Islands

Jun 11, 2019 | Hồng Minh, Viet Nam News

As the last-born in a four-children family with two brothers and one sister in the central province of Quảng Ngãi, 21-year-old Phan Gia Cường never…


Myanmar: Regreening a Barren Rohingya Refugee Camp on Myanmar’s Border

Jun 11, 2019 | Kaamil Ahmed, Mongabay

Where a year ago there were only the desolate remains of a forest scythed from hills to house hundreds of thousands in the world’s largest…


Iraq: Iraq May Soon Replace Oil Wells with Solar Panels

Jun 11, 2019 | Austin Bodetti, New Arab

While Iraq's long-term prosperity has remain intertwined with the petroleum industry since the country gained independence in 1932, Iraqi entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and officials anticipate their…


Land: Touted as 'Development,' Land Grabs Hurt Local Communities, and Women Most of All

Jun 11, 2019 | Steve Lundeberg, Oregon State University

Large-scale land transactions in which nations sell huge, publicly owned parcels to foreign and domestic corporations negatively affect local women more than men, a new…


India: Water Wars among Monkeys as Relentless Heat Dries Ponds in MP Forests

Jun 11, 2019 | Kashif Kakvi, Newsclick

Conflict among humans over water in summer is not new, but, conflict among animal has been unheard of till date. In a shocking incident, as…


Namibia: Namibia Promotes Women's Rights in Accessing Communal Land to Ensure Food Security

Jun 10, 2019 | Xinhua

Namibian Juliana Uushona, 46, lost her husband four years ago and with his death, she also lost their property after her in-laws took everything. With nowhere…


Iraq: Iraqi Citizens Choked by Worsening Pollution Problem, Government Negligence

Jun 10, 2019 | Nick Meyer, Arab American News

Iraq is suffering from a pollution crisis as citizens struggle with life in the slums where burning trash dumped by city officials is making life…


Afghanistan: The Impact of Illegal Drugs in Afghanistan on Political Settlement

Jun 10, 2019 | Wadsam

The result of a study conducted by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) with the financial support of the European Union indicates that ongoing debates on the…


Humanitarian Aid Failing to Be Feminist as Funding for Women Lags behind

Jun 10, 2019 | Nellie Peyton, Reuters

About 0.1% of humanitarian funding goes to addressing violence against women and girls worldwide, charities said on Monday, prompting calls for a new “feminist” approach…


India/Pakistan: Climate Wars? Major India-Pakistan Conflict Predicted over Ownership of Water

Jun 9, 2019 | Nirad Mudur, New Indian Express

A whole range of issues — unending cross-border terrorism and the radicalisation of youth in Kashmir being the most prominent among them — keep India…


Venezuela: Venezuela's Mining Arc: A Legal Veneer for Armed Groups to Plunder

Jun 8, 2019 | Bram Ebus, Guardian

Venezuela claims to possess some of the largest untapped gold and coltan reserves in the world, and the country’s gold rush picked up when the…


Myanmar: World Oceans Day 2019: This Luxury Eco-Resort in Myanmar Is Cleaning up the Sea

Jun 8, 2019 | Hayley Skirka, National

Despite having opened its doors just six months ago, the Awei Pila Resort in Myanmar’s remote Mergui archipelago has already had a positive impact on…


Groups Join Forces to Fight Military Toxic Exposure

Jun 7, 2019 | Leo Shane III, Military Times

More than a dozen veterans advocacy groups will join forces to track and highlight toxic exposure illnesses among former military members in an attempt to…


Women as Climate Action Ambassadors in Coastal Districts of India's Odisha State

Jun 7, 2019 | UN Environment

People in the coastal districts of the eastern Indian state of Odisha are increasingly suffering from the effects of climate change. Most households in the…


Sierra Leone: Academic Uses Film to Raise Plight of Sierra Leone Diamond Miners

Jun 7, 2019 | Matthew Reisz, Times Higher Education

It is widely known that “blood diamonds” played a major role in funding the rebel Revolutionary United Front during the ghastly civil war in Sierra…


Iraq: Iraq Harvests Go up in Smoke, but Who Lit the Fires?

Jun 6, 2019 | Marwan Ibrahim with Ammar Karim, Agence France-Presse

Resurgent jihadists, ethnic land disputes or regular field burning? Iraq's northern farmlands are on fire, but the area's complex patchwork of grievances has made it…


Afghanistan: As Pressure for Afghan Peace Grows, Drug Threat Remains

Jun 6, 2019 | Reuters

As pressure grows for a political settlement to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan, the drug trade remains a major threat, leaving the country…


Climate Change: Global Peace and Stability Depend on Climate Security

Jun 5, 2019 | Government of the UK

Foreign and Commonwealth Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific, Mark Field, highlighted the importance of factoring the risks of climate change into all…